My family is really going through the raw dairy these days. I got the idea for this post when we – yet again – ran out of any and all raw dairy a full 24 hours before the next farm delivery. I even added a whole extra gallon to our order at last pickup and here we are out once more!

Do I run to the store and pick up a half gallon of ultrapasteurized organic milk to tide us over?

We haven’t always consumed as much as we are now. It’s just that my oldest is starting puberty and drinking about a quart a day – maybe even more?

My other two kids have all of a sudden gotten into drinking it as well. I’ve always had to pretty much force them to drink their milk in the past (you know the drill – drink your milk or no bike ride after dinner or whatever).

Now they are gulping it down and asking for more.

I know this seems like a lot, but at the moment, our family of five is easily going through 4 gallons of grassfed cow milk and 2 gallons of foraging goat milk.

Per week!

Oh, I almost forgot. Add a half gallon of raw milk yogurt to that.

And 1-3 quarts of raw cream (for raw ice cream of course). Who can live without ice cream? We do a lot of milkshakes at our house.

Plus one pound of raw butter.

That’s a lot of full fat dairy for a family of five. But then again, we don’t buy any sodas, boxed breakfast cereal, and other processed foods so even though the fresh dairy is expensive, it fits within the budget.

Just my opinion, but I would go from two cars to one or move to a smaller house if necessary to afford our raw dairy. You can’t put a price on health. It is more important than any possession.

“Health is the first wealth” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

In light of how much saturated fat my family is consuming, some of you might be thinking that we surely must be a family of large people.

Comments (244)

We have Nubian goats and we sell our milk for $12/gallon in north Alabama. We have a family of four with two girls and we go through about 4 gallons a week. I want to find a suppler of raw cream since our milk doesn’t seperate, so we can make butter and ice cream.

Thanks for writing this Sarah. You brought up two things I’d been wondering about: how much to drink, and full fat raw not contributing to weight gain. It’s good to know that I’m not over doing it ( I just started drinking raw this Tuesday and I seriously can’t stop…tastes phenomenal, but I wonder if it’s my body telling me I need the nutrients). In terms of weight management…I’m wondering why paleo followers keep saying that dairy is no good when trying to lose? I don’t do paleo myself so it’s not a raw milk deal breaker for me, just curious as to what that thought is based on.

I’m currently only getting 2 gallons of milk per week from my herd share for my family of four. Although I hope to double that as soon as possible. I would ideally like to make a gallon of kefir every week. I have no idea yet how much yogurt I’d like to be making (or ought to be making) but I hope to be able to offer it freely without restriction to everyone everyday. And I really like to just drink milk. And so do my kids. So when I consider also wanting cream to make butter and cream to use in other ways I begin to think there is no telling how much I might want to go through every week. lol

Here in Canada we (2 abults and 3 children) go through 6 gal plus easily a week. Each week we make butter, ghee, yogurt, kefir, sourcream, creamcheese and the rest for drinking. For a treat we make icecream and cheese. It is crazy that we cannot buy raw milk here. However, we have a source and it is like gold to us.

How much organic raw milk whey from the process of making raw milk kefir (not powdered whey product from the store) should a person drink a day to detox and raise glutathione levels in the body? I can’t seem to find anything on the net about drinking actual raw milk whey that is not powdered and straight from the cow. I have lots of whey in my refrigerator and want to use it to raise the gluthathione levels in our bodies to detox mercury and other heavy metals but I don’t know how much whey to drink.

I keep a very small herd of dairy goats in NC and sell the milk for $12 per gallon. Even if I sold every gallon I produced, I would not make a profit at that price, but I can’t really charge more. I know on the consumer end, prices can seem high for raw dairy, but the cost of keeping healthy happy animals is also high. But worth it!

Both of my farmers in Minnesota are being persecuted by the Minn. Dept. of Ag. for selling raw milk. They are going thru endless court hearings and judges are ruling against their constitutional rights. Maybe if many people contacted the MDA demanding raw milk, they would back off our farmers. In any case, you can call MDA asking for a list of local organic dairy farmers who can then sell it to you legally purchased off the farm.

I live on Long Island, NY and cannot find raw milk anywhere or have it delivered to me. If anyone knows where I can purchase some from my area or who will deliver here please, please let me know..
thank you!

A gallon is almost 4 litres… so I go through between 1-2 litres per week, usually as kefir and yogurt, and a half-litre (500ml) of cream. I pay $4/litre for the milk, cream is a whopping $16 for a litre (but oh, so worth it!) My milk farmer is also my beef farmer, and soon-to-be chicken/eggs as well. I’m in an area where raw milk is not legal (though we’re fighting it as hard as we can), so it’s all very much on the down-low. Nothing like buying milk out of the back of your farmer’s van in someone’s driveway

We are a family of nine. We buy 10 gallons every 2 weeks @$6.50 a gallon. We live in Maryland so we have to cross over into Pennsylvania to get it. My 3yo twins and my six year old drink the most followed by my husband. I would like my 14 month old to drink it but she won’t take a bottle or cup. We usually run out on the Thursday or Friday before the next pick up. I would buy more but I don’t have room in my fridge. In Pennsylvania the butter and cream are pasteurized so I haven’t bought it yet.
Also if I might ask Sarah, where do you get your milk. We might be coming to Florida next February for a few months and staying in the Disney area.

We go through 3 gallons per week. 2 plus for drinking, and at least 3 quarts of homemade raw milk yogurt. We get a quart of raw milk every few weeks to make cultured buttermilk/butter and other yummy things!

I live in Minnesota and I can’t seem to find a raw milk supplier. I tried to e-mail a local chapter leader from the WAP but never got a response I’m not sure who to call or how to find out where I can find raw milk. Does anyone have any ideas?

Hey Kris,
Did you look on the WAPF website on the campaign for real milk? It has a listing by state of quality milk suppliers. My fam lives in Minneapolis- I wonder if they have heard of anything? I can ask!

We have our own goats so we have endless milk! But typically we go through at least 3-4 gallons a week for a family of four with two kids that are 7 and 8. I swap milk for farm raised eggs weekly and I get butter from the amish. Typically goat milk goes for $12/gallon in Alabama and $8/gallon for cows milk.

We’re going through 4.5 gallons every two weeks for 3 of us. (2 adults, 1 16yo girl) It goes way up when the three boys are home from school. I pay $10/gallon for it in the winter and I have to drive an hour each way to get it. (In the summer I have a friend with cows an only pay $6/ gallon and it’s local). I make butter, kefir and sometimes yogurt (don’t have good luck with raw yogurt). I would give up a lot of things to keep my raw dairy (tv/cable/new phones and gadgets/fashion).

But I agree that it is so unfair that everyone doesn’t have legal and reasonably affordable access to this perfect health food!

I envy all of you in the States. We pay $20 to $22 per gallon in Canada. So one gallon per week would probably be all we could afford. Would love to go through four to six gallons per week but the cost is prohibitive.

question for you all — I am lactose intollerant and can not consume any milk. I can eat
butter with no problem. I have been told if you are born intolerant to milk(which I was)
you will not be able to consume raw milk either. Also anyone have info on this? My Mom
who is 93 and does consume milk gave up raw milk because of a very bad intestinal
bacteria which I understand came from the raw milk. I have been told that infants and
the elderly no longer have the ability to kill off the natural occuring bacteria in raw milk
and should not consume it. Any one with info on this? I hate her drinking organic
pasturized milk when we do have access to raw milk locally. HELP!

I came late to the party but I live in Indiana and we could only buy Raw Milk as “pet food”. Very recently we won the right to buy Raw Milk for human consumption!! I am the only one who drinks it in my house although Hubby eats all the cheese I make from it. I need to drink more because I only drink about 8ounces daily. We get ours for about 6$ a gallon and buy 2 gallons at a time.

Raw goats milk has saved my life! I avoided milk my entire life because I was lactose intolerant but I crave milk like crazy now and it’s helped my digestion immensely. I’m at about 1 gallon per week and I’m 36 yrs old. I do worry that it will get even harder to source in the state that I live. I will move if I have to!

Mmm you are making me thirsty … don’t ever make a pregnant woman crave milk, it’s cruel and unusual! And there is none to be had in this house today, sadly!

The closest I can find to raw milk here (we move with the Navy a lot and we are only here for two months so I haven’t gotten serious about searching) is some organic barely-heated milk from a nearby farm. I don’t know how bad that is but I know I would never, ever buy ultra-pasteurized … we’ve gotten that far!

So I am totally new to raw milk. If I were to make the switch, the only thing holding me back is the price, would it be cheaper to make my own butter or pay the $11 for the tub of raw butter at our local health food store? Is it hard to make your own butter? Also for one trying to cut processed foods…What would be the first, most important change in the way we eat….raw milk, raw butter, organic fruits and veggies, meat not treated with hormones and grass fed, and no processed foods? I honestly don’t know if we can afford to do all of this and just wonder if where I am starting is the best choice. Thanks.

After reading some of the recommended books fromWise traditions I came to realize the benefit of raw cows milk. I live in Bahrain, in the Middle East, and have finally hunted down a farm (if i can call it that) here. I got my hands on raw cows milk, but now am concerned. I have been told to heat the milk before consumption due to ot knowing how sanitized the container and hands are etc. Even though i did not want to at first due to defeating the purpose of it being raw, I am now wondering if I should.

The cow that they milk, is kept contained in decent size area but is not roaming around freely. The chickens, however, are running around the cow constantly. Also from what I have seen it is fed both greens and dried pita breads. The pita bread is plenty and always kept In a bin in front of the cow and some have greenish stuff on it too (my guess mold). They do feed it grass and other plants but I don’t think it is their main feed.

So should I even bother to get this kind of raw milk? Or should I get it but heat it at home? I’m so confused.

Health is the most important thing in the world! But it still does not mean I can afford to pay $7-10/gal. for milk, or a pound of butter, or spend $10 in gas to go pick it up. I WANT raw dairy products, but unless they are made more accessible and affordable, how can a truly financially struggling large family afford to do this? I’m not about to go out and buy garbage for my family. But I also can’t afford to do what I know is right, and it’s frustrating!

Stumbled onto your site – while checking for raw yogurt – and saw “Lebanon”
I am just south of Lebanon and wondered if I could learn where you get your yogart.
I really want raw for my family of 5. We need it so badly and I am stumbling around trying
to find what I need. Any info would be appreciated.
If you would rather talk in person – email at myronweaver2@gmail and I will call you.
Thanks so much,
Rachel

We are a family of 4 in Ireland & we use just over 3 U.S gallons a week. That is not including milk for yogurt etc. I pay $3 a gallon but the going rate in Ireland is $15 a gallon (My supplier makes raw cheese & is a very informed man on raw milk benefits & he loves that he has an attentive ear & good discussions with me & that I give my kids raw milk so he just charges me the same as a gallon of milk in the store). Raw milk is also about to be banned in Ireland so I am very very upset about that.

None. We drink very little milk at all. I wish we could drink raw milk for the health benefits but in no way am I willing to risk my children’s health in case we get a bad batch. It very well may never happen but it just isn’t worth the risk especially since my children are so young. Too bad.

We live in TN. 2 adults and 1 child. 3 gallons of milk ($7 each), quart of yogurt ($4 each) , 1 lb of butter ($7 each) and 4 dozen eggs ($3 each) is our usual order. They also do mozz. chz and yogurt chz. We are so thrilled to have found this farmer. The milk is the best I have ever had. He feeds them absolutely no grain, even while milking. Great sanitary practices. Puts in glass jars. Will plant fast growing grasses even in the winter to keep up the high nutrition content. We used to live in a 2000 sq ft house in the “in”/yuppie are of town. Now, we live in a 900 sq foot apartment on the unpopular side of town. We have reduced our vitamin/supplement budget and are putting the money in to quality food. We have also joined CSAs and buy our meat, tallow and lard from farmers with great practices who are local. It is worth it to reduce one’s life style to have a longer, healthier life. We reduced our living space but increased our food quality.

We go through 8 gallons a week for our family of six and when we get a second fridge we will probably get 10 or more. A gallon is made into kefir and a gallon for clabber/sour cream, and one gallon for farmer’s cheese. I’m on GAPS so we also get 8 dozen farm fresh eggs too. The farm we buy from has Holsteins, but they are pastured and not grain fed and he said that he never has mastitis or any other health issues. We get it for $2 a gallon and eggs a $1 a dozen. I’m quickly realizing how spoiled we are.

… thinking about my earlier post: It occurs to me that putting milk in my coffee, or making my hot oatmeal with a certain percentage of milk, kinda cooks or pasturizes it to begin with. Thing is, I haven’t been able to drink milk straight up since entering college (where they kept confusing that horrid skim milk, which also turns rancid rapidly) with the whole milk).

Perhaps, if no suggestions are forthcoming, I’ll start with making home made cheese, a venture I’ve been planning on trying anyway.

I’m still having to deal with the “skeeve” factor about drinking raw milk but that’s a personal mental headsnake. Being, though, as I would like to try it, do raw milk producers sell in small quanitities? I can’t even find local milk producers who produce less than gallon quantities of pasturized to sell at a time.

My primary milk use is in coffee, with the occasional recipe on the side. Does raw milk freeze and remain healthy?

I don’t even know how much we go through as week. The 5 of us often go through a gallon a day. LOTS of raw butter. LOTS of raw milk cheese. LOTS of ice cream. But we have Jerseys, one is dry now, one we’re still milking and one heifer that is due to calve in the spring. So next year we’ll be milking three Jersey girls. When the two are at peak, we get around 10 gallons of milk a day so there’s plenty to drink and make anything. We also do cow shares (in TN.)

I am amazed at all of the raw milk drinkers! I live in Ohio and it has been short of impossible for me to find raw milk. I will think I have located a source for cow herd sharing and then they aren’t available. I am praying this will change. How hard is it to raise your own milk cow?
We easily drink 7 gallons of whole milk now.

First I would like to say hello. I am new to this blog and really am enjoying it so far.

Well I feel very blessed, I get raw milk for $2/gallon from a freind and raw goat’s milk for $6/gallon. Yes they are grass fed. The dairy farmer I go to has Jersey cows so lot’s of cream, Yum! My family of 5 easily go thru 7 gallons/week. Sometimes more, I have two boys in puberty and we are going thru it like crazy now. My oldest boy has a cancerous brain tumor (made a comment on the vaccine blog about this), and craves raw milk, I mean craves it. His Dr. said there must be something he needs from it, so let him have as much as he wants.

We converted to raw milk about 6 months ago. Like I said, my oldest son has a brain tumor, and had delayed puberty. So we had to go see and Endcrinologist. She is a wonderful Dr. I want to share my son’s story as I feel this has a lot to do with the benefits of raw milk versus store milk. When we were there she said, did you notice your son’s breast were larger than normal, I said yes we had. She said that is somewhat normal in puberty for boys to have some breast tissue get a little large, but his were too large for his size. She then went on to tell me they are now seeing boys as young as 5 with growing breasts. They are advising parents to use to avoid milk with rBGH in it, because they believe this is the cause. Although she cannot recommend raw milk, this is what we chose. This is an Endocrinologist at a reputable Children’s Hosp. here in OH. She then saw all three of my boys, they all had the same issue, my youngest is very skinny, it is not due to weight. She recommended goat’s milk, but we went raw. This is just our story and why I am an advocate for raw milk legalization nationally.

Also, my hubby and I are trying lose weight, doing all the fat free items, skim milk, you know the drill. We couldn’t lose. Now we drink full fat milk, eat full fat butter, and eat as much grass fed meats as possible, we have both started losing weight and we feel better too.

My family of 4, which includes myself, my husband (who only drinks a cup or two a week) and then a 4 year old boy and a 2 year old boy go through 7 gallons a week. Plus we can’t buy raw butter here in Utah or raw cream here so we just buy the 365 brand butter but go through 4 lbs of that a week. Oh and then we go through roughly a quart of yogurt a week and about 3 pounds of cheese. We go through ALOT. In fact, I have to but limits on how much milk my kids drank because we were going through 10-11 gallons a week and my kids would just drink milk all day and not eat anything!

I have a family of 7. I buy 4 gallons of fresh grassfed raw milk every week. I am working on trying to incorporate making yogurt too. And we use only the best butter I can (right now that is either Kerry Gold or Organic Valley pasture butter). I would probably use some cream too if I could get it raw in my area. I can get it cold pasteurized if I am willing and able to make the drive.

That depends on if I’m making yogurt each week, which I usually do. We eat homemade yogurt daily and also drink raw milk at lunch, but not every day. I also use raw milk most mornings in a smoothie. I’d say between the two of us, age 62, we consume one gallon of whole raw milk each week, plus 1-2 small jars of homemade yogurt from that milk, daily. I also might add cream to the yogurt, and use a little cream in cooking, and on oatmeal. Desserts like ice cream and milk shakes would be spurges for us seniors, but I understand if you have growing children they’d be a must. Some evening we make our desserts a fruit lassi. Butter? Gotta have butter! We go through half to one pound a week, grassfed of course, and I’ve been making my own ghee with it also. Traditional people did not consume fresh milk through out the whole year. They couldn’t if the cows were pregnant or nursing their calves. Didn’t they consume it in the form of hard cheeses? We eat a lot of cheese also.

The four of us (hubby, me and 2 kids) go through 4 to 5 gallons a week! We usually run out on milk day as well. So good and so good for you! I would go without, though, before going back to even organic milk. Raw milk and yogurt are the best! Thanks for the post, Sarah

I drink a half gallon a week. It’s $4.50 a half gallon and $9.00 a gallon in Portland, Oregon. My family lives in Upstate NY, near Syracuse and they pay just $3.50 for a gallon. Every cent is worth it for our farmers and our health.

I pay $5 Gal. for raw milk, $8 Qt. for cream and $12 lb for butter and raw cheddar. Lately, though, we have had no butter or cream unless I skim it from the milk myself because we are in a severe drought here in Tx and that means no extras at the dairy because milk supply is down.I also have a question, Is the milk still as healthy if the cows are primarily fed hay because there is no grass right now? Same with the grass fed beef , between the drought and fires in Bastrop wich eliminated several supplying ranches, we are having a hard time getting it and even then it’s not really grass fed anymore.Is it still better to eat local in a drought? Local produce is also hard to find (and tastes very bitter) and local honey is not available here right now because the bees have nothing to eat since there is no moisture in any of the plants or flowers.

We (three of us – hubby, myself, and our 7 yr. old.) JUST bought a half of a cow share (the only way to get raw milk legally in MI) and that gives us 1.5 gallons of milk a week….sometimes more in the summer, and sometimes a little less in the winter when cows are calving and dry. After the cost of the actual cowshare (one time purchase) it costs $28 per month, which avg. out to less than $5 a gallon. I was paying $5 per half-gallon for grass-fed/lightly pasteurized/non-homogenized milk at the health food store, so this is actually saving us money. Plus, they have a farm store where I can purchase grass-fed/pastured beef, pork, and chicken, and eggs. They make a wide variety of raw milk artisan cheeses, and so we are also purchasing those. They don’t sell cream or butter, but teach classes on how to make butter, yogurt, and kefir. My only problem is that 1.5 gallons will be gone too quickly for me to have any left for making other milk products. I may have to start saving up for the other half of the cowshare! I have been positively giddy about finally having raw milk to drink!

My 2 year old daughter and I go through 3 gallons of raw whole milk a week. She drinks it all day and I never limit her, she can have it as much as she wants. Sometimes we run out of it a day before the farm drop then we just wait and my daughter goes to the fridge every 15 min and looks for milk:-) But no store milk. We also get cottage cheese, and we do make kefir at home. So thankful we have access to raw dairy. Although, I had to cut down since my newborn son gets gassy if I drink milk so I am on coconut milk right now for a little while and miss raw cow milk terribly.

I have 10 people living in my house. We get 5-7 gallons of raw milk every week. The primary purpose for using raw milk is to make kefir, and eventually yogurt. The children drink a lot of of it too. I live in IN. We are part of a cow share, and the milk is delivered to 3 drop sites in my town, one being on my porch. I believe our costs come out to between $5-$6 per gallon. Our supplier was made, by the “authorities”, to stop providing milk, cream and yogurt. I’m thankful to at least still be able to get the milk.

I finally found a good (and close enough to be reasonable) source for raw milk… so thrilled! I’d been working on it off and on for months. I have a question, though, on milk for yogurt- I have the option to purchase low heat pasturized/non-homoginized milk from the same farm and it’s cheaper. Since I’m heating the milk I’m using to make yogurt, would this be a good option? or should I stick with the raw? It’s not a huge price difference (about a dollar per half gallon), but definitely adds up!

Me and milk have a thing…;) I will never go back to buying store bought milk again either! Our family of 6 is currently doing about 6 gallons/10-14 days, that also makes our yogurt and kefir, and smoothies.

My husband, I, and our 4 kids ages 9 and under go thru a gallon a day – yes a day and actually it is only kefir. I kefir 2 half gallons every night. Plus, yogurt, ice cream, cheese, and lots of butter. During summer it was actually worse. I had to kefir 3 half gal every night and we would get about 10 gal every week. We totally love it! It is pricey but I hope it is totally worth the brain power.

I pick up a half-gallon once a week at the health food store. I usually run out a day or two before my re-stocking day. They get milk in fresh once a week from Dungeness Valley Creamer. If I buy a gallon, I usually have too much and it goes sour. I DO drink soured raw milk, or find a way to cook with it, but I don’t particularly enjoy the taste when it has soured slowly in the frig. I have done smoothies too!

I DO clabber, when clabber is made from fresh milk that is set out right away to clabber….I think it gets a different-tasting colony of bacteria going.

If I am planning to clabber milk, make kefir or cheese, or cook a lot with recipes that take milk, I as much as I think I will need.

It’s just me drinking it. My son doesn’t like the taste and won’t touch it.

When I have to, either because the health food store sold out or I am out of milk money, I buy Umpquaa brand pasteurized (NOT ultrapasteurized) milk. I think they are the only brand left in my town that isn’t ultrapasteurized.

I’m a single guy, no kids, living in Maryland, and for the past year I’ve been drinking about 2 cups of raw milk every day, plus some raw yogurt or kefir and some cheese and butter. Before that, I used to drink pasteurized organic milk regularly. Then I figured out the importance of raw milk and learned of a source for it. Now, I would never go back, not even to hold me over for a few days. If I could no longer get it I would eat raw cheese when I could or otherwise go without dairy and eat more seafood. I watch my sister feed her babies organic pasteurized and ultrapasteurized milk, and it kills me, but she won’t listen.

Hi everyone!
I love this site, so much info that you will not get elsewhere! We drink a gallon and a half at 7.50 a half gallon in northern Ca where it is legal thank goodness. I make my yogurt out of half and half because raw milk is so expensive. There are two of us!
Cheers Jean

My husband, myself and my little one year old have been going through about 4 gallons for 2 weeks.. but we just ran out again.. we are drinking more each time we go on a milk run!! MY FRIDGE CANNOT HOLD IT ALL!

Thanks for the great information! I know that Raw milk is better for you than pasteurized milk, but I am wondering if someone could list or go through the SPECIFIC benefits. I hear things like the proteins are denatured, the vitamins and nutrients destroyed, etc a lot. But I’d like to know, specifically, which vitamins are destroyed during pasteurization (and what temp they are destroyed), which proteins are denatured (and how and at what temp). Would low temp vat pasteurized milk from jerseys be better than raw milk from holsteins (both pastured, grass-fed) ? Does butter and cheese need to be from raw milk as well? Does culturing pasteurized milk restore these lost benefits? I am a totally newbie to all this!! I guess I’d like to know exactly what the benfits are of raw milk (along with grass fed, pastured) so that I can make informed decisions about it. Does anyone have some good links or suggestions where to get this info?? Thanks so much!

Thanks, Sarah! I have been reading the info on the realmilk website and it is very informative. Do you think low temp vat pasteurization has all the same negative effects as regular pasteurzied milk–or is pasteurized just pasteurized?? Does butter , yogurt, and cheese need to be from raw milk as well??

My husband and I just started back onto milk about two months ago. My husband and I drink a 1/2 gallon every week. (No children in our house) We pay 7.50 a gallon, we buy one gallon every two weeks. We normally could go though three-four dozen raw eggs every two weeks depending on supply. We love our eggs! We pay four dollars a dozen.

We easily drink 2 gallons a week and could probably use one more. My husband and I drink kefir almost every morning (blended with bananas and berries–I’m thinking of adding an egg to that). And we usually have a glass with lunch and dinner as well.

I have to agree too, that if you’re not buying the processed foods and other garbage like that, buying more expensive raw dairy is not as big a hit to the budget. It’s an excellent and worthy trade off!! I’d give up other stuff in my life before giving up our family’s raw milk, that’s for sure.

We are a family of 6 with 4 kids ageds 2 yrs to 8 yrs. We drink about 4-5 gallons a week. And a gallon for us (here in Ontario, Canada) is $12. It’s definitely something that we’ve worked to keep top priority in our budget. We use the milk to make our own yoghurt and buttermilk as well and drink the remainder fresh. Our 2 year old also lives on the raw milk – it’s her favourite food and I love giving it to her!! It’s healthier than most anything else you can eat, so I feel confident she’s getting the right nutrients, even though she’s still at that picky food stage.

We are a family of 6: 2 adults and 4 boys under age 8. We buy 5 gallons of raw jersey milk a week and usually run out a day early. My next step is to get some kefir grains so we can make coconut milk kefir and also water kefir grains to make kefir sodas so that we can cut store bought juice out completely and make outr milk go further. I don’t really have enough to use in cooking and baking. I do do it, but it always makes me nervous that I’m going to run out on Firday or something, and out pick up is on Monday My 2 yr old is nevere without a cup of raw milk–unless we’ve run out, and that is not fun. He basically lives on the stuff! He eats other things but mostly he drinks milk. He’s miserable when we run out because he’s hungry and he doen’t know it. He just knows he wants milk and I can’t give it to him.:)

We go through 2 & 1/2 gallons of raw goat milk per week. Myself, my 4 year old, and my 19 month old. My husband hasn’t discovered the joy in it yet, but the rest of us sure do. Most of it is used to make kefir, but it’s so hard to save it for the kefir when we get low. I want to try the milk cure for a while to see if I could ever get my fill!

We go through about 2 gallons of raw milk per week, but I currently have to cut dairy out. I hope that in a couple of months that I will be able to add dairy back in. I miss my raw cream! My husband is still wary of raw milk. Otherwise I know our consumption would be closer to 4 gallons per week.

Our family of 4, inclucing a 3 1/2 year old and 8 month old go through about 2 gallons of raw Jersey milk per week. We could go through more, but I would have to purchase a 2nd herdshare. Occasionally I have to ration it to get to the next delivery, because the 8 month old is on the WAPF formula. I also make a gallon of yogurt about every 2 weeks. My husband and I don’t drink a lot of milk, though it is delicious! Most of it goes to the children and yogurt, which we all eat. We LOVE our raw milk!

Hello! I live in central IA and would LOVE to get raw milk. I am so jealous of all of you who can get it! Any ideas of what I can do? At our healthfood store, I get nonhomogenized vat pasteurized milk from cows that are raised right. I’m looking for any loopholes you all can think of–ha! geist6 at yahoo dot com Thanks!

I grew up in Iowa! I know that there is a huge local, organic movement going on there. I just seen this video of this guy who has a huge dairy farm that produces raw milk. I forget where I seen the video, I believe it is on youtube. He lives in Central Iowa too. I actually grew up in Clear Lake.. this guy was a bit south of that. I would google it. Iowa has nothing but farmers- it shouldn’t be to hard to find some raw milk there!

We are a family of 8, and we have three goats that we are currently milking twice daily. We use it all whether we drink it, make kefir, make yogurt, ice cream, and in cooking and baking. I even make cheese with it. We’re getting about 1 1/2 gallons of milk per day, and I don’t like to waste a drop of it!

Hi Sarah,
My family of four drinks raw milk, but only 2 gallons every 2 weeks. For now we only use it on granola in the morning and sometimes in cooking. I am currently learning uses for soured milk and plan to venture into yogurt making soon, so I’m guessing our intake will be more by the end of the year.

On an unrelated note, I am fairly new to your blog and was wondering if you had ever done any posts on being a food snob in the real world? My family is very “choosy” and it has sort of alienated us from having much of a social life in a world where food is central to a good time with friends. How do we eat well and still have fun?

We user 6-7 gallons of raw, grassfed Jersey cow milk per week. We’re a family of 4, and I make a lot of kefir, and also use the kefir to soak home ground wheat flour for our bread. I’ve been doing this since May…. and I’ve lost 20 lbs!

Family of 4, 2- children 8 and 9, anyday now a family of 5 (yippee, 8 years of hoping and praying!) we consume 2-3 gallons a week. We are blessed to have a certified raw dairy farm just in the next town. We are spoiled and well aware of it. We are taking full advantage of having it over there. I tell you the NT ice cream has been great for eating when I have not felt like eating anything else. Drinking 1 cup of raw kefir in a smoothie each day has made a difference on many levels as well. My parents are now trying it, a friend’s mother on chemo, and my fermented challenged husband is willing to go at it too!

I wish I lived close to one of you – just started with raw – bought a half gallon of milk (smallest container they had), a container of cottage cheese (wow! delicious) and some sheep kefir. Well, the milk is spoiling in the fridge – I just don’t drink it (well, I drank a little) and no kids here to scoff it down. So I won’t buy the milk anymore. But love the cottage cheese, kefir, and cream………..

Thank you for your post about the Organic milk – I have been known to put it to get us through the week until Friday’s raw milk delivery. I’m guilty of being duped.
My kids LOVE raw milk. We used to go through less than a gallon of milk a week – nobody cared for it and I had concerns about dairy so we just didn’t drink it.
But we just began raw milk last month and we went through our first gallon in 24 hours! Unheard of at our house.

Don’t feel bad, Katherine. We’ve all been snookered at one time or another. The marketing goons at Big Food and Big Dairy spend all day sitting in their boring little cubicles pulling in 6 figure incomes trying to figure out how to fool us and once in awhile it works – but not for long for those of us on the lookout.

2 adults 2 children (3 & 6yrs). we go through 3 gallons raw milk plus 3 -4 quarts kefir and 2 qts raw sheep’s milk yogurt. if we run out we’re without till the next raw milk pick up. there is no substitute for real milk.

I was wondering if I can ask you a question about cheese given we are talking dairy. In Australia where I live I can get raw milk (sold as bath milk as it is il legal to sell raw milk for drinking) but I cannot get raw feta and cheddar cheeses. Are you better to not eat cheese if al you can get is organic pasterised cheese or is cheese ok to eat not raw. I am looking into making my own feta but the cheddar process is full on.

We are going through 24 lutes a week here in Australia…. Don’t let the raw milk situation deter you from moving back to OZ, I’m only paying $3.85 per 2litres and it’s organic jersey milk, there are lots of farmers producing it here now even though it’s completely illegal. Certain areas in Australia are far more conscious about healthy living than others!

I don’t drink that much dairy. I only use raw when I do. I like it – raw sheep’s milk yogurt (the most amazing yogurt I’ve ever had!), goat kefir, cream for ice cream – are my favorite ways of using it. I mix the yogurt and kefir w/raw strawberry whey protein powder for right after the gym. I read that this is very useful to the body to rebuild the tiny torn muscle fibers.

For those of you who run out before your next pick-up, have you ever tried freezing your raw milk? I had half of a gallon I had frozen at my mother’s at Thanksgiving that I didn’t defrost until a few months ago. It has a nice bite to it, but it’s just as flavorful as fresh.

Has anyone tried camel milk? I can get it frozen from my buying clubs, but I haven’t yet tried it.

Not legal in my state but husband travels on his job and brings back about 2 gallons for 2 week. Just started and hope it continues working out. And is $8.99 gallon and very yummy. I have made ice cream 3 times in 1 week. i use whole milk and we think it is wonderful. Think I will go get a piece of homemade peach pie and a scoop of homemade ice cream..Yum!

Our family of 7 used to go through 3 gallons of milk plus at least 1/2 gallon of kefir a week but that’s when raw milk was cheap in Virginia. We just moved to Colorado and the price of raw milk almost doubled!!! We cut back to 2 gallons a week and we run out a couple days before the next delivery!! My husband needs a raise so we can buy more!!

My husband doesn’t drink milk so it is just me as the boys are grown. I get a gallon of raw milk every two weeks and kefir the whole gallon. I think raw milk kefir was sent from God! When everyone else is getting colds, flu and intestinal bugs, I never get them. I know my raw milk kefir has a lot to do with that. In addition, we go through a quart of raw cream every two weeks. When it gets a bit too sour for coffee, I use it in scrambled eggs and other dishes. We go through a lot of raw cheese.

Tina, kefir is good, but I let mine turn to clabbered milk. It’s much easier, and you get a myriad of good bacteria. Whereas with kefir it’s maybe only 1 or 2 strains available.
i also drink my milk at room temp. Much easier on the tummy, and better for digestion.
great collection of positive comments here. Good to see.

@Amanda, I drop dairy, it is a weight gainer. Limit to butter and occasional cheese. I love my raw milk while pregnant (now) though. But after baby comes I’ll strictly limit my milk intake to lose baby weight. It differs for everyone, but I can’t lose while drinking milk &eating dairy, raw or otherwise. Good luck

@Amanda, I drop dairy, it is a weight gainer. Limit to butter and occasional cheese. I love my raw milk while pregnant (now) though. But after baby comes I’ll strictly limit my milk intake to lose baby weight. It differs for everyone, but I can’t lose while drinking milk &eating dairy, raw or otherwise. Good luck

Our family of 6 drinks 6 gallons, either in the form of milk or kefir. We run out a day early a lot. I was thinking of asking for another gallon in my pick-up, but thought my farmer may think I’m a lunatic! As for price, here in North GA, milk is almost always Mayfield and this summer it topped $6/a gallon and that is what we pay for Grass-fed Raw Jersey Milk, with so much cream you can take half and still think it is whole milk!

I live in Maryland where you cannot buy raw milk. Does anyone know of how I could get it? What would be the next “best” thing if you cannot get raw milk? I have been buying pasteurized, non-homogenized grassfed whole milk. Thank you!

If anyone is in or near Central OH, I run a buying group. We get raw milk, pastured eggs, and pastured meats (lamb, chicken, turkey, beef, pork). 100% grass-fed where appropriate. Please email me if you are interested! I want everyone to have access to this high-quality food!

As for our family, my husband is back on GAPS so we are not going through as much raw dairy as we did. I need to make some yogurt (our milk got delivered last night) for the kids. We used to go through 2 gallons a week plus 1 – 2 lbs. of butter in the early summer (family of 4, now 5, but my newborn doesn’t eat anything yet!).

5 people in my family are able to have dairy (one a young toddler) and we go through 4 gallons of raw milk every week. I use the cream on top to make ice cream. We also use a half gallon of yogurt, 1-2 pounds of raw milk cheese, and plenty of butter. I was starting to feel strange about that, so thanks for this post!

5 people in my family are able to have dairy (one a young toddler) and we go through 4 gallons of raw milk every week. I use the cream on top to make ice cream. We also use a half gallon of yogurt, 1-2 pounds of raw milk cheese, and plenty of butter. I was starting to feel strange about that, so thanks for this post!

We go thru at least a gallon of milk a day–either goat or cow just for drinking. Once a week I make cheese for us for the week which takes about 10 gallons to get us thru. I also have kefir for smoothies that the kids love and then forget about at times so the baby goats tend to get cultured milk and do wonderful on that.

Yogurt and buttermilk is also made in abundance, probably on average a gallon of yogurt a week and half a gallon of buttermilk if I am not baking a bunch.

We are a family of 1 adult and a 3 year old that loves his milk. A teenager also eats with us but if he knows the milk is from the goats he won’t touch it!

My milk customers for the most part get 1 gallon a week per household and if they are going to make yogurt or cheese, they buy extra here and there. I have one share holder who is doing a natural tooth repair and goes thru 2 gallons a week and has had great results.

I have the “milk factory” here so it is easy for me to get what my family needs and wants. We use yogurt to make dressings, gravy, in pancakes, etc. as well as buttermilk in all those as well just depending on what I have that needs to get used up.

Keria — I run a buying group in Central OH, raw milk is not illegal here. Email me if you are in Central OH or NW OH and I can get you hooked up with a farmer. If you are in NE Ohio head to Amish country to ask. Believe me, most of my friends have herd shares — raw milk is alive and well in Ohio!

We go through about 3 gallons of raw milk in 5 days (give or take). Our one year old recently switched from raw goat milk to raw cow milk so that has upped the cow milk considerably. I make my own yogurt out of half of that and unfortunately raw cream is aparently not legal (??) in PA. (have not researched it, just what the dairy told me) so I buy PH cream from the dairy too although at $13.00 a half gallon we don’t buy that every week.

Another cow owner here too. Besides drinking milk with most meals, we make butter every week, about 2-3 gal of yogurt per week, and cheese when I have time. We use the cream for coffee, ice cream, sour cream, and I am often guilty of spooning a few tastes of straight cream from the gallon before I shake/pour a glass. 😉

Our sweet cow is 2 weeks out from maternity leave and we will be out of milk until mid-Nov. I am not sure what we’ll do then. I have some in the freezer, but not enough to get us through.

Hi, I’ve only just begun buying raw milk for my family. I am curious about what everyone else is paying. I found milk for about $4/quart, but the cream that I’ve found here is $12/pint. OUCH! So that would be $24 for a quart of ice cream which my family of four would inhale in one sitting. I’m going to keep checking around for something less expensive…

We pay $8 per gallon for raw Jersey milk, $14 per quart for raw cream, and $9.99 for a pound of raw butter. We’re in Indiana. We pay $30 per year for the herdshare agreement that allows us to purchase the raw dairy. It’s worth every penny!

We pay $18 a gallon for raw goat’s milk in Alaska. It’s a little ridiculous, but that’s what everyone charges (I’ve looked) and I can’t get a response from any raw cow’s milk farmers, so for now we’re sticking with the goat’s milk! Needless to say, my husband and I only go through one gallon a week. I still think it’s worth it!

Kelsey, I too found goat’s milk for $18 gal. We didn’t like it enough to pay that much. I kept searching and finally found an old homesteader who is selling cow’s milk for $4 gal. I’m thankful for that. (I had checked with the one person selling cow’s milk up here listed on the realmilk site and it was $15 gal and a 2 hr round trip for me). My husband and I go through 1 gallon a week. I would like to start making our own yogurt and kefir (I’m gearing up to start GAPS) so am hoping more will be available. Now that fall is on the way I know the milk production will be dwindling though. I don’t know what part of the state you are in, but you might check around with any homesteaders and see if they have anything. You can also try the co-operative extension service and hopefully find a like minded agent who could give you some info off the record.

We are raw milk producers in Ohio (we offer Jersey herdshares in the Dayton area) and when we had all six kids at home we went through 6-8 gallons a week, now with just three of us, we use about 3 gallons per week, plus a quart of cream for butter.

Hi Sarah, We go through 4 gallons a week for a family of 4 and that is because if we run out it isn’t east to get again so we are careful. I have no source for raw butter or raw cream but I do try to make about a quart of yogurt. Wishing we had all your sources. Margaret

We consume live milk via kefir, so all of our milk is cultured. We harvest a quart of kefir daily on a 48 hour interval ( we like the extra pucker). We like to drink the live milk kefir at room temperature.

What isn’t consumed at day’s end is prepped for kefir cheese. The texture of the kefir’d milk and the kefir cheese is ultra smooth & thick. The whey from the production of kefir cheese has enough pucker to make one cross-eyed.

We also use live milk to produce curds & whey. The whey from both the milk and the milk kefir is an awesome superfood. The curds get de-liquified and then ready for the cheese culture and then onto the cheese cave (used refrigerator). The whey is our primary inoculant for fermenting vegetables and chutneys. If we have a surplus of whey, it becomes a refreshing beverage (with a dash of salt & pepper).

The live cream goes into ice cream, red tea chai, creme fraiche (European sour cream). If some live cream happens to sour, it goes into the Ranch dressing. I should mention that the live cream we get pours out of the container like a rope (thank God for Guernseys!).

Our main use of butter is fudge. We adapted the Carob Fudge recipe from Nourishing Traditions and swapped out the carob with raw cacao liquor (not liqueur, think nib paste). We put crispy almonds in the bottom of the dish so that the resulting confection is something like a giant Hershey bar that is stored in the refrigerator. Very popular with guests.

We use live buttermilk as a marinade to tame beef liver. We have found that lemon juice is too overpowering for our tastes. Buttermilk is also used to ferment the creme fraiche.

Pavel, can I be your neighbor, lol. The fudge recipe sounds insanely good. Can you post the exact recipe? (Unfortunately, I don’t own a copy of Nourishing Traditions so I don’t wouldn’t know where to start)

OK…..I know our family will be an oddity – but you asked.;-) We use 30 gallons per week for our family of 8. Every morning (except Sunday) when that 5 gallon pail of fresh milk comes in from the barn, I start a 3-4 gallon batch of cheese and usually some yogurt or kefir. We drink milk with most meals (usually 1.5 to 2 gallons per day) and have smoothies daily when it’s hot. Butter is usually made 3 times per week. One 3lb. block is for immediate use and 2 go in the freezer. I know this sounds like a lot of work (and it is!), but it’s seasonal and in a few months, I’ll be back to just 2 gallons per milking. Is obesity running rampant in my family? Nope! Good fats grow strong and healthy bodies!

We are also a family of 8, and when we used to get raw goat’s milk for free from friends in CA, we could easily go through a gallon per meal. Now that we’re living in New England and paying for our raw cow’s milk (still an amazing deal at less than $5/gal.) we’ve really had to restrain ourselves and I purchase 10 gallons every 2 weeks. We use it for drinking, homemade kefir and kefir cheese, viili yogurt, and whey for lactofermenting veggies. In the future, I’d like to arrange our grocery budget so that we’re able to purchase more milk. It’s definitely worth the investment!

See, Cindy, this is where I WANT to be! But, unfortunately, I am much more in line with Brittany. I can’t afford it. My family of 8 goes through a gallon a day and that is with us limiting it to breakfast and dinner. (We do water or tea for lunch.) We tried SO hard to do raw milk but it is just not in our budget, nor is owning a farm or land enough for our own cow. (Believe me, we’ve thought extensively about it.) My husband is a chef so we also use HUGE amounts of butter! We have switched completely to whole foods and gotten rid of all refined oils and that vanillin stuff, but just can’t fit the milk or grassfed meat/butter into our budget. It is extremely frustrating. We only have 1 vehicle and no debt and live in a house that can’t be downsized due to the amount of kids we have. I get frustrated that there isn’t more I can do. There is no more budget categories to pull from. Sigh.

I sadly have not been able to buy raw milk. It’s double the price of organic milk and it’s been a hard enough stretch on our budget just to switch to organic! Unfortunately even though I think the “you can’t put a price on health” idea is correct, sometimes even when you are living frugally/no extras/etc you still can’t afford the really good stuff. We go through about 1-1.5 gallons of Organic Valley (we get the pasteurized NOT ultra-pasteurized) whole milk a week. Some day when my budget allows I will switch to raw milk….or maybe someday raw milk will be cheaper.

I believe, as with all organic, natural, and pastured foods, if we demand it, and buy nothing else, the prices will come down. Right now there just isn’t enough demand. I think most folks, especially families, are living by convenience, and the run-of-the-mill products at the local huge grocery outlet fit into that profile. It’s fast, easy, one-stop shopping, and I don’t think a lot of families take the time to seek out the “good” food. I tell anyone and everyone who will listen about the benefits of raw dairy, organic foods, and grass-fed and pastured animals. Sooner or later consumers will demand better food, and the stores will have no choice but to comply. Then we’ll see prices come down because competition for sales will be stiffer.

Thanks for sharing! I was beginning to wonder if we should cut back somehow! Is there such a thing as too much milk??? I pick up our limit of 9gal of milk and 2-3 quarts of cream, every other week. But our family of 5 is continually running out of milk 4days before the next drop off, forcing me to go buy the un-homogenized milk at Whole Foods (there’s no telling my 2year old to do without). I was trying to get by on 7gal every two weeks, like we did before going raw, but now we’re making kefir daily in addition to the 7gal. If I can’t make it last this time, I’ll have to sign my husband up for his own milk delivery!

There are 7 in our household and we go through 5-6 gallons a week. We’ve been making our own butter from our Jersey milk, but can barely keep up. We too seem to be drinking more and more. We were only using 3-4 a week, but it’s been upticking.

Right now my husband and I (I’m breastfeeding a 9 month old) drink about 1 1/2 gallons per week. We almost ALWAYS run out before the week is over. I just started making kefir again too…so I think I’ll be upping it to 2 gallons. The milk we get is soo yummy there are days that we could guzzle 2 glasses each at breakfast. We used to just get our raw milk at a regular dairy (meant to be pasteurized but still on pasture some of the time) for only $1.50 per gallon. I started getting a little worried about the safety of the milk, even though the farm was very clean, because they were still probably getting GMO grains. So we switched to an organic grassfed farm for $5 per gallon. Yeah, it’s more expensive, but from what I hear/read it’s WAY cheaper than other parts of the country!

I am in Washington state, and I pay $8. for a half gallon, and $10. for a whole gallon. And no, unfortunately, if they are out of whole gallons I do NOT get the gallon price for taking two half-gallons! I’ve asked! This particular farmer is just being certified by the local health department here to sell cream, and I’m almost afraid to find out how much they will charge for that, but you know what? I’ll still buy it!! I think it’s expensive, but we aren’t drinking that much right now. I have it mostly for making buttermilk, or creme fraiche. Between my husband and me, we maybe drink a half gallon between us per week. We don’t eat cold cereal anymore, and that’s one place the milk was getting used. I’ll put a little on my soaked oatmeal in the morning, but would prefer cream! I’m hoping to start making my own cultured butter, so the cream will be a must!

We have our own cow. Although we have relatives who milk 4 days a week, we milk 3 days and my family of 7 drinks about 6 gallons a week. We’d drink more if we had it, but we share the cow so others can have raw milk, too. I do have one child that refuses to drink milk at all, so I make sure there is a lot of milk and cream in many recipes that I make, so he gets some benefits, too.

Hey Pamela I’m about to start making dairy products as in Western Australia we cant get access to raw cream, cheese, yoghurt etc… would absolutely love if you would send me any of your recipes! aimeeridgway@hotmail.com – much appreciated!

We just bought our first 1/2 gallon of raw milk yesterday at Eastleigh Farm in Framingham,Ma. We bought some delicious garlic cheese that they sold there. that was also made from raw milk. This morning I made pancakes with raw milk. They were delicious! I tasted the milk plain, it was OK. I haven’t had milk in about 25 years. I am very sensitive to pasturized milk but not to the raw milk. I just found a Strwberry Milk Shake recipe by Nourished Kitchen that I want to try. I also want to make yogurt out of the raw milk. So I am just a beginner in all this!

Oh how I wish we could get raw milk on a regular basis where we are! It isn’t legal for sale in Canada, so one has to join a cowshare. I only know of one in our entire area and it is having many legal problems these days not to mention the fact that one gallon costs upwards of $18! There is no way we can afford that! So, we make do with (uggh) pasteurized organic milk, mostly for yogurt and kefir (although we do use some in cooking and in tea), and the occasional bounty of raw milk from whenever we cross the border (legal for sale in WA). It is such a sad situation to me and I get depressed reading how others are able to enjoy such large and regular quantities of fresh raw milk weekly! I’m happy for those who can, but sad for those of us who can’t, for I fear we’re missing out on a HUGE component of healthful living, going without.

My husband works out of town pretty frequently, but when he’s home, this family of 5 easily goes through a gallon of raw milk a day. And that’s with one son who can’t drink it. We also go through a lot of raw cheese and farm eggs. My husband’s mom was shocked when she found out he drinks a lot of milk now. But he said he loves the raw milk. He complains pasteurized milk has “an aftertaste.”

Amanda,
I found that science writer Gary Taubes’ “Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It” made a lot of sense. It is NOT A diet book, it is a sequel to his earlier book, Good Calories-Bad Calories. It confirms what we all pretty much know (especially if we love raw milk, which i do!):
Good Calories- These are from foods without easily digestible carbohydrates and sugars. These foods can be eaten without restraint. Meat, fish, fowl, cheese, eggs, butter, and non-starchy vegetables.
Bad Calories- These are from foods that stimulate excessive insulin secretion and so make us fat, increasing our risk of chronic disease–all refined and easily digestible carbohydrates and sugars.
For me, his book, Why We Get Fat…(essentially insulin resistance) answered questions and cleared up misconceptions shedding light on decades of “wrong science” thinking about fats, laying to rest the AMA’s tired myth of the ‘Healthy Heart Diet’….just my 2 cents…hang in there.

We have 2 adults, 4 kids, and one nursing baby, and we go through 4 gallons per week, not including cream. I don’t mind spending the money on any food item that I can have the peace of mind to tell them, “have as much as you like”, and know that it’s good for them. They are required to finish what they pour. And if we run out, that’s it for the rest of the week.

When all my kids are home we go through 2 plus gallons a week, I agree our health is paramount and when I found out that raw milk also tells your body to make fresh white blood cells, I was even more hooked!

@ Amanda give this article a read and also peruse the site. I have come to the point of agreeing with his premise that we are all individuals and need to learn to listen to our bodies and find out what nourishes our own particular metabolic type.

We are a family of 2 adults and one 8 year old and we consume 2.5 gallons a week plus about a pound of cheese, not so much butter only because I get such a savings on coconut oil online so we use tons of that-so maybe 1/2 pound of butter. Much of our milk is consumed as kefir since we adults are on GAPS. Every once in a while we do run out and so we just go without. Cannot stomach the idea of anything but real milk!

Keria- I pay no attention to my grocery bill. I also buy 100% organic and people think I’m nuts. We have cut back on additional costs as much as we can and find new ways to save every day so that our health can come first!

Exactly! Much easier to say no to the sugar fest surrounding us 24/7 when you are eating plenty of good, whole fats and the blood sugar is beautifully steady. THEN – whether or not you eat dessert becomes a CHOICE and not a COMPULSION.

My son and I go through about 3 gallons of raw milk a week. We also orderd raw milk cheese and butter a few months ago for the first time and will be placing another order for those as well. I love it!

Hey Just wondering before you started purchasing raw cheese, cream, & butter…. when a recipe callsed for any of these things, what would you use?
I’m assuming raw cream you could use coconut milk (Although I cannot source bpa free coconut milk in Australia) and for butter you could use coconut oil or olive oil, just curious if anyone has ideas as raw cheese cream & butter simply doesnt exist where I am (although I’ll soon be making my own butter

And I also love your quote, “You can’t put a price on health.” People often balk at our grocery bill because I buy 100% organic and raw foods regardless of the cost. We only have one car and don’t have many of the other “extras” other people find so important but for me my theory has always been that if I am going to spend my money anywhere, it is going to be on my health, and for me that first and foremost means, the food we put into our mouths. =)

I wholly agree – I have adult children who seem to have NO passion at all about what goes into their bodies and that of their children, and I cannot understand it – especially with all the information out there right now about what’s healthy and what’s not. Does it really make sense to brag that you are able to feed six people for $75. a week??? When my children see us eating real Parmesan cheese, instead of the powdered stuff in the cans, they can’t stop talking about how much money we spend on food! Or my other daughter who is low-fat, and low-carb about everything. And she can’t understand why she has such a hard time getting pregnant! It doesn’t help either that everyone, from our medical professionals on down, are telling these kids that low-fat and low-cholesterol, and vegetarian diets, are good for them!

Ann,
My grown children are the exact same way about healthy eating. One of my granddaughters ask me the other day if I make “everything” homemade. I laughed because I think she is getting the point and she is only 7.

Ann, I totally get what you are saying! My oldest is a whole foods, traditional foods foodie and left for college this summer. We drive her raw goats milk to her every week or two. She just can’t bring herself to eat conventional foods. We stock her little dorm room with what we can…especially real protien. My hubby, isn’t as dedicated. He wonders why she doesn’t just eat a the caf.

Meant to add about my “budget” conscience friends and family. Argh! As Joel Salatin says, “If you think organic food is expensive, have you priced cancer lately?” And actually, once I cut out the snacks, cereals and other packaged food, and increased my organic foods, my grocery bill stayed about the same, or less! ;o)

I have a husband and two kids (though one child is breastfed so she doesn’t consume any Cow’s milk). We go through at least 2 gallons a week (my husband travels a lot or that would be more) plus 2 quarts of yogurt and 1 quart of kefir. Wow, after reading this we would probably up our intake!

When I was young I’d rather have milk than Kool-aid or any other drink. I’d run in from playing and have a glass of milk. My family has always drank a moderate amt., for 3 we went through 2-3 gallons a week. Then somewhere in the middle – late 90’s we heard it was bad for us. We hardly drank any. Then when 2 of us went back to drinking it, it was as if we were lactose intolerant. I overcame it, my son did not. :o( Now, it’s hubby and I, we go through (guessing here) 1.5 gallons a week. Mostly due to my kefir making. We don’t have the luxury of raw milk. So, I hope it’s not going to be bad news saying to stop drinking it again.

Jan, I live in New Jersey and get raw milk from the Amish in PA. It is wonderful. We have nine children and drink 18 – 20 gallons a week. It is a miraculous food. I have struggled with colitis and illness all my life. I am currently drinking raw milk exclusively and am feeling better than I have in years!

We were only going through a gallon a week, but we were only just starting out with raw milk. We were dairy free before that. Now that we all love it so much, and it allowed me to have the most amazing 1st trimester I’ve ever had (only threw up twice the whole 13 weeks instead of twice a day as I did with the other 3 pregnancies) that I’m hooked now! We upped our farm order for October to two gallons a week. Oh and the farm fresh eggs—-yummmmmmmmmmm

we drink alot of milk too, close to a gallon and a half, but that’s me and my two toddlers. My husband doesn’t like milk.

I wish I could figure out Real Food and Weight Loss. I haven’t found the “right” combo for myself. I stopped gaining weight, and after switching my diet I initially dropped 35 lbs. Then I gained 10 back and have been sitting with this same weight for about the past 8 months. I keep trying different thing with no results. Started biking (that did seem to tone my legs but I didn’t lose weight.) Went low carb but had a hard time sticking to it, went grain free, tried grains in moderation, tried “fasting” my lunch… nothing. Still the same weight. Do you have any book recommendations to point me in the right direction? I’m 85 lbs overweight, so I’m not talking the “last” five pounds that is sometimes hard to lose.

I would look at the possibility that you might be leptin resistant. Here is a link to a site written by a doctor that has lots of info about it. You can also find a lot of info on the web.http://jackkruse.com/the-leptin-rx-faqs/. Also, have you had your thyroid tested? If you have and your doctor said it was fine, you still could have a thyroid problem. A great site about thyroid problems is stopthethyroidmadness.com.

Try looking into The Diet Solution by Isabel De los Rios. Its all about eating real food and very practical. I really enjoyed her book and “program”. I lost about 25 lbs in 3 months eating wonderful, nutritious REAL food. I highly recommend it. She isn’t necessarily onto the “traditional” aspects, like soaking flour and fermenting your food , but her focus is on whole foods /real foods/ and not processed foods.

It totally get your position Keria. My husband is from Australia and we have seriously considered moving there in the past but a BIG reason why we never have moved is because raw grassfed dairy is very hard to come by there. You can only get it from holsteins and they are mostly grainfed. Forget about raw cream and butter.

Hi Sarah and Kiera, you can actually get raw milk in Australia with a bit of sloothing… a raw dairy company called Cleopatra’s Bath Milk produces unpasteurised, grass-fed milk. The farm is based in Queensland but you can also purchase the milk in New South Wales… in QLD I believe you can get the raw butter and cream also. There is another raw dairy producer in Victoria called Aphrodite’s. Sadly both have to be marketed as beauty products for external use only, but it is raw and grass-fed. If you look up stockists of Cleopatra’s Bath Milk you will be amazed at how wide-spread it is. I believe you can even order it online. Hope this helps!

when we were on holiday in melbourne for the month of december 2009 we were gobsmacked by how expensive real food is. we found the aphrodite milk at a local health food store and was disappointed by the taste and the shelf life. it went sour after only 2 days. we paid $11 for a dozen eggs – insane! it was our good fortune to meet up with dairy farmers from fish creek so we drove a fair way to get the most amazing milk i have tasted in a while. at home in NYC we pay $7 a gallon and $4 a dozen. as a family of four we drink 3 gallons raw cow, 2 qts cow kefir, 1 quart cow yogurt, 1 pint sheep yogurt, 1.5 lbs cheese and 1/2 lb butter per week.

Sarah, we are able to source all the needs you mentioned here in Queensland.(OZ) North of Brisbane, around the Sunshine coast, Gympie, Maleny, Nambour. The dairy is all Jersey, Gernsey. Milk, butter, cream, French style cheese.
We feel very blessed to have this source.
Of course don’t tell anyone. It’s our little secret. (Ooops!)

Hi there! I live in this region too, right in the hub of the sunshine coast and have been furiously looking for local sourced, organic raw dairy straight from the farm preferably. Do you have any way of passing me on some contacts? I promise its just for ‘bathing’.. wink wink nudge nudge say no more!

Aimee, if you are still looking for raw milk in Perth, please drop me a line. We have extra “bath milk” from our house cow, Annabelle. If you know anyone else who is looking, please spread the word! rubyslypprz at netscape dot net, near Midland
Cheers, Debra

How does one go about getting raw milk? I would love for my family to start drinking it but only can find organic pasteurized milk. (of course). Living in Wyoming you would think I would be able to find it, Any suggestions or info you coule pass along would be MUCH appreciated! Thank you!

My hubby, myself & 2 pre-teens go through 3 gallons each week. We make kefir from it as well & sometimes we run out. I am a homeschool mom with one family vehicle & it is worth the sacrifices to eat healthy! Thanks for the post, very encouraging!

I miss raw milk! We used to drink nothing but raw milk when we lived in Cali but then we moved to Ohio (my husband is from here) and it’s completely illegal here. No herdshares, no store-bought, no co-ops, no nothing. I am going nuts and we are considering moving just to get raw milk again!

I live in Ohio and you can get milk through cow-shares. It is not completely illegal. Granted that you may have to drive an hour or so to get it. But cow-shares exist in Ohio. Check out http://www.realmilk.com/where4.html#oh for places nearest to you. Good luck in finding raw milk.

Family of four, including two teenaged sons. We go through 8 gallons of milk every two weeks (not counting the rest of our dairy) and frequently run out before milk day. We are looking to add another refrigerator here.

I’m just curious to how much raw milk costs over in the states. I’m in Australia and we pay $4 per litre, so about $15 per gallon – do you guys pay a similar amount? A dozen organic eggs is also about $9.. just curious to the difference!

go to http://www.realmilk.com/where09.html and you should be able to find raw milk sources. Make sure it’s not just raw but is actually grass fed, grass finished without hormones, herbicides, pesticides, and grains.

Wow you guys. I thank God I live in Indiana and have access to raw milk for$3-4 a gallon! We were able recently to go back to our original Amish supplier (who have since left the Amish) which is far better than the other milk from another organic Amish farmer. With his I got to the point where I couldn’t drink it it tasted so bad. I don’t know what he was doing but I finally went back to the first farmer and begged to buy milk from them again. They have since sold all but 4 Jerseys. They have 9 children but are still trying to sell their farm and get further out. He works in an RV factory right now but just wants to milk cows! I pay anywhere from $2.00-3.50 for eggs. Depends on who has them available.

I live in IN too, but pay $7-8/gal through a herdshare program in Fort Wayne. I have 3.. soon to be 4 little milk drinkers and we go through so much! I would love to know who you buy your milk from… I’m guessing it’s in Shipshewana???

Aimee, we’re also in CA and get our Claraville raw milk for about $15 a gallon. When we lived in another state we were able to get raw milk from an Amish farmer for only about $4 a gallon, so it was quite a shock. So I try to limit us to about a gallon a week – and we have 4 small kids, but one still nurses, and the others don’t really want to drink more than a cup or so a day. I do with I could find it more inexpensive.

Hi Aimee We’re in Central Highlands, VIC, and we buy local free range eggs for $5.50 per tray (20 eggs in a tray. Our next best option is a dozen for $4.50 from a another local producer) We buy raw milk from a non-organic dairy (grass fed dairy cows) for $1 per litre, and I also get organic raw milk (“bath milk”) delivered from a Victorian producer each week which would run to about the retail costs that you are paying, but I can only get a very limited quantity of that because of budget limits. We use about 40 litres of milk p/w for our family of 9. And 4-5 trays of eggs.

I’ve just bought into a herd share… a legal arrangement whereby I actually am part owner of the herd and therefore entitled to do as I like with the milk. It is not legal in my state for the farmer to own the cows and the milk and to then sell me milk that has not been pasteurized. There was a one time purchase price and then there are boarding fees for his ongoing care and maintenance of the herd. If I just do the simple math of how much I pay monthly in boarding fees and how many gallons of milk I get each month without trying to figure in the initial purchase price or my gas then it looks like I am paying around 5.50 a gallon. Of course in reality those other costs matter, but that is an approximation for you.

I buy eggs from a different farmer who I know does not feed any gmo grain or soy to her laying hens. I pay 3.50 a dozen if I remember right. She has had to raise the price a few times over the years as the price for the organic, no soy feed she uses keeps going up with everything else in our overly-manipulated and abused economy. Oh well. I will keep doing what I can for my family and my budget and keep trying to vote for liberty in general, for food freedoms in particular and for good sense and fiscal responsibility even while it looks as if almost everyone else if voting for their separate sides of the aisle to finally come up with the perfect way to manipulate everything into utopia. *sigh*

I was just wondering the same! We pay $8.50 a gallon which is down from $12 a gallon where we used to live. We can get organic eggs for as low as $2 but if you want truly pastured, non-gmo organic eggs they are now going for $5 at our co-op and about $7 in the stores.